Higginbotham puts hands up for Sunderland errors

Higginbotham's backpass in the club's last home fixture led to Blackburn's winning goal on September 29 and, although he apologised and vowed to bounce back, the 28-year-old's failure to challenge Philippe Senderos in Sunday's frenetic match at Arsenal enabled the Swiss international to double the London side's lead.

"As a footballer, there's nothing worse than feeling you've let the side down and you've let the fans down," he told The Journal. "You do think about it, footballers are human.

"Everyone makes mistakes, the important thing is that you respond to them. But when a player goes out on to the pitch there shouldn't be excuses. There aren't when we go out because we've been prepared properly, everything has been put in place for us, it's so professional (at Sunderland) that nothing is left to chance. Everything is here for us as players. The professionalism and attention to detail are brilliant."

Higginbotham added: "I've always wanted to be playing in the Premier League - for me it's the world's best league, where everyone wants to be.

"I don't want to get to the end and look back and think that I was in the comfort zone. You always have to challenge yourself and there's nothing more challenging than the Premier League."

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